for what it's owrth, when i first bought my srt6 convertible i thought mine didn't even have that option. i was a bit afraid to really give it a good tug, but i needed to have the cruise stalk/switch replace and the folks that did it also tried to make it telescope, but they eventually applied a good enough tug and it broke free (with me watching of course). i'm guessing yours is just a bit difficult from lack of use. it should function (as already mentioned) regardless of battery or key (i've tried it while moving and it does in fact event work that way, although if everything works correctly you will get a warning lamp on the dash.